Grow Up
by NemoBabu
Summary: Naruto Shippuden starts of with a rather sad form w.r.t how much Naruto has changed. With the recent Manga stories, we can clearly see how far behind the legends Naruto really is. This story will attempt to recreate the story with a more grown up, world weary if you will, view of Naruto. First Fanfic. Rating M due to slight language. Disclaimer - Do not own Naruto franchise.
1. Death of a Legend

**Most syntax (italics, bold, upper-case, etc.) will be pretty self-explanatory. I will be trying to recreate the Naruto Shippuden story-line with something more realistic, one where just fierce determination and happy go lucky smiles will not be enough to save the day. This fanfic will feature a slightly greyish and stronger Naruto, a lot more world weary Naruto but still with a good heart and helping soul.**

**Pairings will not be central to this story though there may be a few bits of romance involved.**

**I will be mixing the names of the jutsu with their English and Japanese names mainly on whether I am able to spell them correctly or if I remember them.**

**Standard Disclaimer – Do not own Naruto or any other franchises/authors from where I may have 'borrowed' an idea or two.**

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xx

**Chapter 1 – Death of a Legend**

_"I see a beautiful country and a brilliant people rising from this abyss. I see the lives for which I lay down my life, peaceful, useful, prosperous and happy. I see that I hold a sanctuary in their hearts, and in the hearts of their descendants, generations hence.__It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known."_

_"Having finished the eulogy, I raised my head to look at the throngs of people ahead of me. Thousands upon thousands had come to pay their final respect to the legend, not a single face not filled with sorrow, not a single eye with unshed tears. People from all over, from the forests of the Land of Fire to the mountain tops of the Land of Lightning, from the poor road-cleaner of a back-alley street of Tanzuka Gai to the richest Daimyos of the major nations, from the powerful Kages of the Hidden Villages to the stoic Samurais of the Land Of Iron, from ninjas to merchants, all had come. They came to anguish, to celebrate, to see for one last time, to remember, the life and death of the man who became a God to all people."_

_"Within every generation of humans there will always be a select few, a hundred or so, that will stand above the rest; more successful and famous then any around them. They are called famous. Every hundred years or so, a smaller amount, maybe not even ten, will become figures of world renown, rising above the rest of humanity before and after them in such a way as to never be forgotten. They are called heroes and heroines. But then there is even a rarer occurrence. Every thousand years or so, a man or woman, will rise above the rest, above humanity itself. He or she will become more than a figure of world renown. And become more than a human. Once in a thousand years a man becomes a legend."_

_"With these last thoughts, I stepped down from the podium and lit the pyre on fire. And thus was gone my friend and master, my brother and rival. And I am hit with this profound sense of loss, this heart-wrenching pain in my chest like a black hole, sucking away all the good in the world. The light has gone out of our lives and there is darkness everywhere. '_**_WHY?_**_Why did you have to die? We could have helped you. I know I am wrong. And I know there would have been no other way that you would have wanted to go. Who else but you could have faced and stopped a wrath of nature? Only you. And now you are no more. I will not see you again as I have seen you for these many years. I…we will not run to you for advice and seek solace from you, and that is a terrible blow, not only to me, but to the millions and millions in these lands, and it is a little difficult to soften the blow by any other advise that I or anyone else can give."_

_"I look up to your altar and stare, my vision murky, blurred and wet, and I see. You burn not a hot red, not a bright yellow nor a shining orange, but a brilliant, outstanding blue, eternal. The colour of your eyes. And I realise, this, your final lesson. The light has gone out, I had said when I first learned, and yet I was wrong. For the light that shone in these lands was no ordinary light. The light that has illumined these countries for these many years will illumine this continent for many more years, and a thousand years later that light will still be seen, and the world will see it and it will give solace to innumerable hearts. For that light represented the living truth ... the eternal truths, reminding us of the right path, drawing us from error, taking this ancient realm to peace."_

"All right students, with this we have come to the end of the 'Tale of Naruto' by Sarutobi Konohamaru the deceased but beloved Seventh Hokage. For your homework assignments, please write me an essay, no less than 500 words on the 'Impact on Agriculture post the Fourth Shinobi World War with emphasis on the work done by Uzumaki Naruto, Sabaku No Gaara and Koyuki Kazahana'."

"Ughhhh…come on sensei…why did you have to go ruin the mood? The book was so cool and now you just blew it…"

"Hey sensei…who would win a fight between Naruto and our Tsuchikage?"

"Sensei who did Naruto finally marry? They never said in the book."

"Haaah…just you watch sensei...I am going to be a greater ninja than that Naruto guy!"

"(Big Demon Head Jutsu) **ALL RIGHT EVERYONE SHUT UP!**(Thank god for Konoha sharing this jutsu. It's a life saver in the classroom) Not everything in life is as simple as a story so you have to work hard to achieve what you want in life and not just listen to the gospels of others' life work. There is no point in speculating about a fight because it would never happen as Naruto was famous for avoiding fights after the fourth shinobi world war. No one knows much about Naruto's personal life after the war. And yes anyone who is willing to work hard, protect those precious to him or her and never give up can become strong, even as strong on Naruto was."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxx

Please review.

Looking for Beta for the story.

Thanks – Nemo


	2. Birth of a Legend

**Standard Disclaimer – Do not own Naruto or any other franchises/authors from where I may have 'borrowed' an idea or two.**

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xx

**Chapter 2 – Birth of a Legend**

It had been 3 days since Jiraiya and Naruto had departed from Konoha for their two and half years training trip. Naruto had already been pestering Jiraiya for training and had been told to keep practicing the Rasengan until he could get down the timing to no more than 2 seconds.

There was a bit of tension between the 2 ninjas as they travelled down the road; Jiraiya a bit miffed with Naruto's unwillingness to look at the reality of Uchiha Sasuke's fate and Naruto's doggedness in wanting to save his friend. Truthfully, Jiraiya was quite proud of the faith and loyalty that his godson was showing towards his teammate, but he knew the reality of the situation. It was clear as day to the Toad Sannin, the similarity between his old team and Naruto's – the brilliant genius in Orochimaru and Sasuke, the perfect chakra control in Tsunade and Sakura and the sheer determination and power in himself and Naruto. Even the senseis' of the two teams were similar. Both known prodigies, the Sandaime Hokage, Shinobi no Kami, Sarutobi Hiruzen and Copy Nin of a Thousand Jutsu, Sharingan No Kakashi, Hatake Kakashi. Unfortunately, this is where the similarities ended.

Despite all of his faults, Orochimaru used to be a decent guy, (once upon a time, long ago) before his decent into madness. He was always a little quiet, a bit arrogant but always the dependable teammate. Jiraiya till this day blamed Root for Orochimaru's mental degradation. He maintained that the time spent in ANBU with Danzo, changed his former best friend and turned him into a monster. This was why Jiraiya still blamed himself. He should have seen the change in his teammate and done something to prevent it, or atleast better dealt with the changing Orochimaru. Instead he had spent most of his time focused on training Minato and had abandoned his teammate thinking everything would remain the same. He had been so absorbed on fulfilling his destiny of teaching the Child of the Prophecy that he had neglected the present. This was why Jiraiya thoroughly despised Root. He very well understood that during war-time, they played a vital role but he never agreed with their methodology. They were a time-bound necessity and should have been disbanded immediately after fulfilling their purpose and the ninjas who were a part of Root should have been given mandatory counselling and psychological help before integrating them into the main forces. There was absolutely no need to prolong the existence of Root under the pretext of maintain the rank of the strongest of the hidden villages by doing shady assassinations and undertaking illegal business deals. Better we lose our ranking than descending into hell of humanity to achieve it. Hiruzen had been right in disbanding Root after the third war and Minato enforcing it but neither had unfortunately looked into the damage already done to the ninjas. Jiraiya knew that Danzo never really disbanded Root and he kept an eye on it. He made sure no children were forced into it anymore and none taken in without their will. He knew that some still fell through the cracks of his spy network but atleast it was better than during war time. His very reason for having created his spy network was so that there would be no need for the long term undercover work that was usually taken by the Root shinobi. Long term undercover work was very stressful and led to a highly fractured mind given how paranoid all hidden villages were.

Tsunade was always a willing, hard worker, a genius in the medical field and treated both her teammates equally. Oh he knew that she quite possibly hated him during the very early years but then again he himself was a huge pain. Despite this, Tsunade still treated him as an equal, atleast during the missions and never showed any bias towards either of them. After some time spent together in the same team, they had become quite close. He made her smile and she helped him with the finer points of chakra and control; Tsunade was always the more professional of the two. Sure, she never reciprocated his feelings towards her but then again he himself had left the village for his journey through the elemental nations in search of peace just as they had grown comfortable around each other. This was one of his huge regrets in life. Maybe, if he had stayed, things would have been different. Maybe she would have fallen for him instead of Dan. Maybe he would have a family of his own. But he was a big boy and wouldn't change anything that happened to him for the world. He got to travel, see the people of these lands. It helped him understand the workings of the world and better understand pain and suffering. It helped him formulate his idea of peace. A world free of war and strife. A world where people understood each other and accepted each other; where pain did not cause more damage but helped heal one another and brought them together; where one would seek to empathize, understand and ultimately forgive your enemies, thereby breaking the cycle of hatred and death. No, he would never stop loving Tsunade and never would he take back the time he spent away from her. It helped him become the man he was today; it helped him become a Sage.

The Sandaime for all his faults with the bias towards Orochimaru had always directed a good amount attention towards his other students. He helped Tsunade with her medical prowess and had given her direction as he himself was not proficient in it. He helped Jiraiya with the basics that he was lacking in and instilled the Will of Fire in him. Most importantly, he taught them the philosophy of ninja. To endure, to protect and to nurture. We are not mindless killers. We are not mercenaries. We do not take pleasure in ending a life. There is always a greater purpose. We do what we do so that others may not. We do what we do so that others may live. We do what we do so that our children may never have to. He taught them hope and love and compassion and justice. For the first time ever, there had been a ninja who had actually taken time to learn, explore and illustrate all that it meant to be a ninja. The First had helped form the hidden villages and created the concept of brotherhood beyond just family. The Second had helped solidify this and bring a true end to the era of Shinobi Clan wars. It was the Third however, who had actually solidified the ninja ideals of the new era. It was during his time, that stability was truly achieved. No more were ninjas just killers murdering everything around them to save themselves. He helped humanize the profession and made it into something more. He created the purpose of being a shinobi that you live for something more than yourself. You live so that those after you are happier and safer. He created the first stepping stone towards true peace. Despite the wars, within each village, there was some semblance of true peace. The ninjas within a village were family to one another, by not blood nor marriage, but by love and trust. This was the true legacy of the mighty Third Hokage of the Leaf.

The new team 7 seemed to have been doomed for failure from the start. Sasuke may be more of a genius than Orochimaru but had even less of love and trust within him. His story was truly tragic and Jiraiya empathised with the boy. Hell, Jiraiya even forgave him his leaving the village treachery for power. However, nearly killing Naruto to obtain the Mangekyou was not a sin Jiraiya was willing to forgive and forget not matter what the reports said of the Uchiha probably leaving his godson alive after their severe battle. He was sure that the Uchiha would descend into even great sinister capabilities during his training stint with Orochimaru.

Sakura was a diehard fangirl. If nothing else, Jiraiya promised himself to atleast rid Naruto of his crush on the girl. The kunoichi was a shame to her profession. Absolutely no ninja capability apart from an impressive chakra control that arose from her having such pitiful reserves. Of the new team 7, Sakura was the person that Jiraiya lamented about the most. She needed to get her head straightened and seriously devote herself to some sever training if she wanted to survive the tidings of new world. Great changes were afoot and the weak had no place to affect any significant change.

Kakashi was a major disappointment to Jiraiya. He had hoped the young man would be different from the Sandaime in his treatment of the team but he had made things much worse. He fed Sasuke's inferiority-superiority dichotomy. Devoting such large amounts of time had made Naruto feel neglected despite the boy never uttering a word and the Uchiha feel superior and inferior at the same time due to the large amounts of attention being showered in his direction. Kakashi made a serious tactical error in his term as sensei.

The sun had set and the evening sky was rapidly disappearing, the darkness bleeding away the last of the light. The trees appeared more menacing, the winds slowly howling and the nightlife more sinister. Jiraiya shivered in his sandals. The world around him sure seemed to reflect his thoughts, darkening with each passing second.

"Damn it all to hell!" exclaimed Jiraiya in his head, shaking out his depressing thoughts. "That's it, I've decided. I'll have to talk with him tonight. No more happy go lucky. He'll be facing enormous challenges in life and I have to prepare him for all of it. He wants to be Hokage right. Well boy, let's start. Let's see if your father's blood truly runs in you."

"Naruto, we camp here. Set up the tent. Gather some food and get the fire started. Then, we need to talk".

Neither would know that this talk would change the future and give birth to a legend.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xx

What has Jiraiya been thinking? What does he want to talk about?

Please review.

Looking for Beta for the story.

Thanks – Nemo


End file.
